ADDRESS 


;>.o°-TO  THE— 


DELIVERED  AT 

nDECj^TXJI^,  ILL., 

Wednesday,  August  1 6,  1893, 

s^H0N.  d.  NICK.  PERRIN.^* 


Published  Pursuant  to  Resolution  of  Mex,  Vet.  Ass’n  of  III. 


NEWS  DEMOCRAT  PRINT,  BELLEVILLE,  ILL. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


Class 


Book 


Volume 


J a  09-20M 


7  ?  / 

ADDRESS  'hi 


^oO—TO  The— 0"4 


DELIVERED  AT 

DECATUR/,  IXjXj., 

Wednesday,  August  16,  1893, 

■^•o—  BY  —  °o°-^ 

^H0N.  d.  NICK.  PERRINS 


Published  Pursuant  to  Resolution  of  Mex,  Vet.  Ass’n  of  111. 


NEWS  DEMOCRAT  PRINT,  BE4.LEVILLE,  14.U. 


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Veterans  of  the  War  with  Mexico : 

PROM  the  Rio  Grande’s  mouth,  where  its  current  mur- 
1  murs  constant  greetings  to  the  waters  of  the  Gulf,  to 
where  Chihuahua’s  mountain  range  is  standing  on  eternal 
guard  above  the  plains,  and  down  to  where  in  ancient  days 
the  palace  of  the  Montezumas  stood,  the  route  was  marked 
some  six  and  forty  years  ago  by  a  victorious  march  of  that 
great  conquering  host  of  which  you  formed  a  part,  and  of 
which  this  remnant  now  is  left  to  point  with  pride  to  that 
unbroken  chain  of  seventy  victories  worn  in  seventy  battles 
fought  upon  the  field  of  war.  The  route  was  marked  by 
that  victorious  march  which,  crowned  with  triumph  in  the 
end,  brought  another  sovereign  state  into  our  great  domain. 
And,  crowned  with  triumph  in  the  end,  that  conquering 
host  of  which  you  formed  a  part  came  back  now  nearly 
five  decades  ago  to  lay  away  the  arms  of  war  and  enter  in 
the  arts  of  peace  amid  a  nation’s  glad  acclaim.  This  rem¬ 
nant  of  that  conquering  host  that  now  is  left  amid  the 
memories  of  those  battles  fought  and  victories  won  to  point 
with  pride  back  to  the  halo  of  their  glorious  deeds  is 
worthy,  too,  as  much  to-day  the  nation’s  glad  acclaim  as 
in  the  days  when  victory  brought  you  home  and  the  nation 
gladly  welcomed  your  return.  Worthy  of  the  nation’s 
glad  acclaim  because  no  annals  of  the  world  can  furnish 
more  to  fire  the  patriot  heart  than  the  record  spread  on 
history’s  page  of  how  a  hundred  thousand  heroes  fought 
in  order  that  the  nation’s  honor  might  not  fade  and  the 
star  of  Texas  would  not  pale.  Worthy  of  the  world’s  most 
thunderous  applause  because  this  record  is  the  cleanest 
page  in  all  the  world’s  great  Book  of  Time.  This  page 
has  not  a  blot  or  stain  to  mar  the  general  text;  no  record 


4 


of  a  single  battle  lost;  nor  how  the  foe  in  triumph  left  the 
field;  nor  yet  a  hint  of  cowardice  to  lend  disgrace  unto 
this  country’s  pride.  This  fage  is  clean.  Its  title  reads: 
“The  war  with  Mexico  was  not  for  greed,  revenge  nor 
gold.”  Its  context  tells  of  how  the  struggle  was  begun; 
of  how  a  vain,  insulting  race  encroached  upon  our  com¬ 
merce  in  the  gulf;  of  how  they  stole  our  ships;  of  how 
they  plundered  vessels  on  the  sea;  and  how,  with  confis¬ 
cation’s  iron  hand,  they  robbed  our  merchants  on  their 
soil.  How  remonstrance  was  in  vain.  How  this  race  had 
promised  all  redress.  How  promises  were  not  redeemed. 
Redresses  never  came;  aggressions  came  to  take  their 
stead;  continued  till  forbearance  ceased;  continued  till 
our  nation  was  aroused;  and  then,  when  tocsins  sounded 
through  the  land,  how  patriots  sprang  to  arms  in  self- 
defense.  The  war  with  Mexico  began  in  self-defense.  In 
self-defense  our  soldiers  fought  for  two  whole  years.  And 
when,  at  last,  its  termination  came,  the  victors  left  no 
standing  guard  to  place  their  heels  upon  a  beaten  foe,  but, 
having  fixed  the  boundary  lines  between  the  parties  to  the 
strife,  and  having  given  freedom  to  the  Texans  from  op¬ 
pression’s  reign,  they  turned  their  steps  towards  those 
sacred  homes  in  which  the  inmates  waited  their  return; 
towards  those  states  from  whence  they  came;  towards  the 
land  for  which  they  risked  their  fortunes  and  their  lives. 
No  wonder,  then,  that  such  a  host  should  meet  their 
nation’s  proud  acclaim.  The)'  were  the  heroes  of  a  right¬ 
eous  war.  They  went  with  willing  hearts  and  hands  and 
came  back  when  the  luster  of  their  deeds  was  beaming 
brightly  on  their  heads.  In  the  presence  of  this  remnant 
listen  to  a  short  recital  of  those  deeds  that  will  forever  shed 
their  luster  on  the  generations  yet  to  come.  Bear  with  me 
awhile  until  within  imagination’s  pale  we  tramp  again  from 
where  the  famed  Nueces  formed  a  hostile  line  to  where  at 
Vera  Cruz  the  shadows  of  the  Orizaba  peak  are  cast  upon 
the  bay;  from  Point  Isabel,  where  operations  first  began, 


5 


to  where  the  operations  ceased — within  the  gates  of  the 
ancient  capital ;  from  Matamoras  in  the  North  to  San  An¬ 
tonio  in  the  South;  from  the  prairies,  where  at  Palo  Alto 
victory  first  was  won,  to  where  Chepultepec  alone  was  left 
to  bar  the  way  to  win  the  last  great  victory  of  the  war; 
from  Resaca  de  la  Palma’s  deep  ravine  to  where  the  foe 
was  forced  from  Cherubusco’s  heights;  from  Buena  Vista, 
where  the  patriots  made  the  anniversary  of  the  day  when 
Washington  was  born  a  doubly  sacred  day,  to  that  great 
sacred  day  when  Guadeloupe  Hidalgo’s  treaty  ended  all 
the  strife;  from  Victoria  and  Tampico  down  to  Cerro 
Gordo  and  Jalapa  ;  from  Saltillo  down  to  Pueblo;  and 
from  Monterey  to  Mexico.  In  your  imagination  now  you 
tramp  again  across  the  tropic  vales,  where  palms  and  olive 
trees  in  great  profusion  grow;  you  march  across  the  table¬ 
lands,  where  evergreens  and  cedars  wear  their  springtime 
garb  the  whole  year  round;  you  wade  the  marshes  and 
lagoons  amid  the  heated  winds  that  from  the  ocean  come; 
and  climb  the  rugged  mountain  sides  until  you  reach  the 
region  of  perennial  snow.  You  hear  the  bugle-call  amid 
the  coyote’s  shriek  at  night  upon  the  San  Fernando’s 
banks  ;  you  wake  at  early  dawn  at  sound  of  rattling  drums 
and  groans  of  bisons  and  of  bears  amid  the  forests  of 
Tamaulipas;  and  you  march  beneath  the  midday  sun  to 
sound  of  fifes  and  hiss  of  scorpions  and  of  snakes  to  meet 
the  shot  and  shell  of  foes  and  conquer  them  before  that 
sun  goes  down  to  rest.  While  in  the  North,  on  Coahuila’s 
soil,  you  hear  again  the  mocking-bird,  whose  song  is 
mingled  with  the  music  of  your  flutes;  and  in  your  march 
along  the  eastern  coast,  through  marshes  and  through  fens, 
you  time  your  steps  to  trumpets  blare  mixed  up  with  croak 
of  frogs;  while  in  the  Sunny  South  the  notes  played  on 
your  silver  horns  are  softened  by  the  melody  of  humming- 
t  birds,  whose  gentle  whirr  melts  earth  and  air  into  a  cadence 
sweet  and  wild  that  well  befits  the  final  and  victorious  act 
upon  the  theatre  of  war.  Above  it  all  you  hear  the  groans 


6 


of  dying  foes  and  shrieks  of  dying  fiends  ;  you  also  see  a 
comrade  drenched  with  blood;  you  hear  the  clash  of  saber 
strokes  and  see  the  smoke  arise  above  the  cannon’s  mouth. 
The  work  of  death  is  hovering  in  the  air.  Around  you 
hangs  the  battle’s  heavy  cloud  and  fog  through  which  the 
path  leads  on  to  victory  or  the  soldier’s  grave.  You  hear 
the  rattle  of  the  flint-lock  guns  and  see  the  bullets  rain  like 
hail.  You  feel  the  foe  give  way.  You  see  them  fall  like 
blades  of  grass  before  the  reaper’s  scythe.  You  see  a 
host  retreat.  And,  with  undaunted  nerve,  you  still  pursue. 
Pursue  until  the  hostile  hosts  are  flying  from  the  field. 
Flying  like  the  leaves  pursued  by  angry  winds.  Flying 
from  destruction’s  awful  storm.  And,  as  they  flee  amid 
the  carnage  wild,  you  hear  the  yell  of  conquering  hosts 
and  loud  huzzahs  from  victor’s  throats.  And,  through  the 
cloud  and  smoke,  you  see  your  old  commander  at  the  head 
and  hear  the  voice  of  Zachary  Taylor  at  the  helm.  You 
see  and  hear  it  all.  You  saw  and  heard  it  all  some  six 
and  forty  years  ago.  And,  though  your  sight  be  growing 
dim  and  your  hearing  less  acute,  yet  memory  grasps  within 
its  pale  the  scenes  you  witnessed  then.  This  war,  like 
every  other  war  or  any  great  event,  did  not  spring  sud¬ 
denly  into  being.  Every  great  event  is  but  the  slow  result 
of  causes  long  drawn  out*  Results  successively  in  turn 
are  causes  and  effects.  Results  of  yesterday  are  causes 
of  the  present  hour;  and  causes  now  transpiring  at  this 
hour  lead  on  to  other  ends  to-morrow.  Thus  the  war  with 
Mexico  was  not  a  sudden  burst  of  passion.  The  ultimatum 
came  when  all  the  antecedent  happenings  had  been  fol¬ 
lowing  in  the  channel  from  whence,  at  last,  the  inevitable 
flows.  For  nearly  thirty  years  the  fires  were  smothered. 
For  nearly  three  decades  the  logs  of  discord  smouldered. 
When,  from  the  kiln,  there  came  the  finished  product,  then 
the  conflagration  was  most  rapidly  enkindled.  After  hav¬ 
ing  floundered  through  the  darkness  of  three  centuries 
under  Spanish  rule  the  country  known  as  New  Spain,  and 


7 


afterward  as  Mexico,  awakening  from  its  passive  state,  be¬ 
gan  to  show  signs  of  revolt.  After  sixty-four  Spanish 
Viceroys  had  occupied  the  position  of  Governor  over  this 
province,  and  had  imposed  that  autocratic  power  upon  the 
natives  which  eventually  drove  them  into  restlessness,  at 
length  the  spirit  of  discontent  became  a  spirit  of  revolt. 
The  standard  of  revolt  was  raised  in  1810  at  Guanajuata 
by  the  famous  revolutionist,  Hidalgo.  Although  he  was 
defeated  and  executed,  after  him  came  Morelos.  He,  in 
turn,  was  executed.  Then  came  the  “Liberator.”  Iturbide 
proclaimed  the  independence  of  the  nation  in  1821.  But 
he  was  only  allowed  to  rule  by  Spanish  recognition.  Inde¬ 
pendence  had  to  be  achieved  again.  And  in  1822  Santa 
Anna  proclaimed  the  Republic  at  Vera  Cruz.  Iturbide 
abdicated;  left;  returned;  was  shot  in  1824.  For  the 
next  decade  this  nation  witnessed  contested  presidencies, 
the  reaction  of  the  church,  the  abolition  of  the  constitution 
and  the  final  consolidation  of  confederated  states  in  a 
Mongrel  Republic,  with  Santa  Anna  as  its  Mongrel  Presi¬ 
dent,  though  its  dictator  in  power  and  practice.  Texas, 
which  had  belonged  to  Mexico  since  the  Florida  and 
Louisiana  purchases,  refused  to  submit.  In  1836  she 
seceded  from  the  Mexican  Confederacy,  and,  under  the 
leadership  of  as  brave  a  set  of  men  as  ever  marched  to 
war,  she  achieved  her  independence.  On  the  6th  of  March 
the  first  great  blow  was  struck.  A  blow  that  sounded 
through  the  world.  A  blow  whose  echo  yet  is  sounding 
through  the  universe.  On  that  day,  behind  the  walls  of 
the  famous  Alamo,  Colonel  Travis  and  his  men  waited  for 
that  well-remembered  combat  to  the  death  that  sent  a 
shudder  round  the  globe,  whilst  the  world’s  great  heart 
stood  still  with  awe.  The  little  band  was  small.  A  hun¬ 
dred  and  four  score  was  all  they  numbered  when  the  roll 
was  called.  Travis,  Crockett  and  the  Bowies  answered 
to  their  names  without  a  fear.  While  answers  to  the  other 
names  were  given  by  men  whose  voices  left  no  tremors  in 


8 


their  throats  or  quivers  in  their  frames.  An  overwhelming 
force  was  on  the  other  side.  A  force  whose  sweep  was 
bound  to  storm  the  walls.  The  walls  were  stormed.  But 
in  that  mighty  sweep  a  thousand  “greasers”  fell  before 
the  last  brave  Texan  died.  That  little  band  resisted  till 
no  one  was  left,  and,  when  the  fight  was  done,  not  e’en  a 
single  voice  could  answer  to  the  roll.  They  all  were 
hushed  in  death.  The  patriots  slept  the  sleep  of  martyr¬ 
dom.  But,  while  no  one  was  left  to  call  the  roll,  and  while 
no  voice  could  make  response,  yet  in  the  air  around  the 
place  a  breath  was  felt  to  permeate  that  breathed  and 
sighed  and  almost  spoke.  It  whispered  in  the  ears  of 
those  whose  hands  were  red  with  blood;  its  accents  floated 
on  the  breeze  around  those  human  fiends;  and  wafted  by 
the  winds  away,  while  only  echoes  staid  behind,  yet  on  the 
San  Jacinto’s  banks  in  June  those  accents  broke  in  thun- 
dertones;  and,  while  Sam  Houston’s  force  fell  fiercely  on 
the  foe,  the}T  shouted  their  avenging  cry:  The  Alamo . 
And  with  this  war-cry  on  the  San  Jacinto’s  banks  the 
Alamo’s  defenders  were  avenged.  Half  the  army  of  the 
Mexicans  were  killed.  The  other  half  were  captured  in 
their  flight.  Santa  Anna,  too,  was  captured  in  a  swamp. 
That  night,  while  Houston  slept,  they  brought  him  to  his 
tent.  And  in  the  morning,  when  he  begged  for  life,  the 
generous  victor  granted  his  request.  But  on  condition 
if  his  life  was  spared  the  foe  must  move  from  Texas  soil 
and  Texas  freedom  must  be  guaranteed.  T’was  thus  the 
“Lone  Star  State”  becam'e  an  independent  member  in  the 
world’s  great  sisterhood  of  states.  The  martyrs’  blood 
that  flowed  within  the  Alamo  had  thus  become  the  seed 
from  whence  a  new  Republic  sprang.  And  down  the 
corridors  of  time  and  through  the  span  of  future  years  the 
magic  password  shall  forever  ring.  Wherever  freedom’s 
heart  shall  throb  the  password’s  ring  will  touch  its  chords; 
where  liberty’s  great  pulse  shall  beat  its  beats  shall  quicken 
at  this  ring;  and  everywhere  in  every  land  the  patriot’s 


9 


throat  shall  find  a  voice  to  shout  in  accents  clear  and  loud 
“The  Alamo  !” 

Texas  became  a  Republic.  Was  recognized  by  the 
United  States  in  1837,  and  then  by  Belgium,  France  and 
England.  It  then  had  the  recognition  and  sanction  of 
some  of  the  most  powerful  and  most  enlightened  nations  of 
the  globe.  While  these  events  were  going  on  Mexico  still 
committed  depredations  on  our  trade,  although  in  1831 
she  had  agreed  to  cease.  Three  years  after  Texas  became 
independent.  The  United  States  and  Mexican  Commis¬ 
sioners  met  for  the  purpose  of  squaring  accounts.  This 
was  in  1840.  By  this  time  their  depredations  aggregated 
in  the  neighborhood  of  $6,000,000.  Their  own  Commis¬ 
sioners  themselves  acknowledged  $2,000,000.  Three 
years  later  they  acknowledged  it  all,  thereby  admitting 
their  guilt  and  piracy.  The  promise  was  made  to  pay  in 
$300,000  installments.  They  paid  three  of  these  and  then 
refused  to  pay  the  balance.  This  was  the  situation  in 
1845.  This  was  the  relationship  existing  when  the  matter 
of  the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States  came  up. 
It  was,  therefore,  not  the  subsequent  annexation  alone  that 
produced  the  Mexican  war,  but  principally  the  antecedent 
thefts  committed  by  Mexican  pirates  on  the  seas,  the  re¬ 
fusal  to  treat  and  make  redress,  the  consent  later  to  treaty 
by  commissioners,  but  also  its  willful  violation  after  it  was 
made.  These  were  the  principal  causes,  and  our  nation 
sent  its  soldiers  to  the  front  in  self-defense,  and  even  then 
only  after  the  laws  of  neutrality  were  violated  by  the 
Mexicans  leaving  their  own  territory  and  crossing  the 
border  line  into  territory  not  belonging  to  them. 

The  delegates  in  the  constitutional  convention  of 
Texas  approved  the  resolution  of  annexation  to  the  United 
■States  July  4,  1845.  The  Mexican  Minister  left  Washing¬ 
ton  because  Congress  passed  the  joint  resolution  providing 
for  annexation.  The  Mexican  President,  Herrera,  issued 
his  proclamation  of  rights ’and  an  appeal  to  arms.  It  was 


IO 


then  that  President  Polk  ordered  Taylor  to  Texas  with  a 
force  of  1,500  men,  while  Commodore  Conner  sailed  for 
the  gulf  to  protect  American  interests  there.  Taylor  re¬ 
mained  at  Corpus  Christi  all  fall  and  winter.  With  his 
“Army  of  Occupation”  he  simply  protected  the  disputed 
territory  while  lawless  bands  were  preparing  for  its  in¬ 
vasion.  In  view  of  these  preparations,  in  January,  1846, 
the  Secretary  of  War  ordered  Taylor  to  the  Rio  Grande, 
opposite  Matamoras.  On  the  way  he  stopped  at  Point 
Isabel  and  left  some  stores  and  nearly  500  of  his  men. 
With  the  other  thousand  he  went  to  the  Rio  Grande  and 
built  Fort  Brown  across  from  Matamoras.  In  corrobora¬ 
tion  of  our  claim  of  right  may  be  cited  the  fact  that  about 
this  time  the  Mexican  President,  Herrera,  wanted  peace. 
Of  course,  this  made  him  unpopular  with  his  nation,  and 
they  elected  General  Paredes  in  his  place  and  as  his  suc¬ 
cessor.  Paredes,  being  a  soldier  bred  to  the  profession  of 
arms,  inaugurated  a  vigorous  campaign.  He  sent  General 
Ampudia  to  drive  Tavlor  beyond  the  Nueces.  Ampudia 
wrote  Taylor  to  withdraw  in  twenty-four  hours.  Taylor 
was  not  in  the  business  of  withdrawing.  He  sent  a  prompt 
refusal  and  staid.  Like  that  valiant  sentry  who  1,800 
years  ago  went  to  death  amid  the  pumice-stones  and  ashes 
from  old  Mt.  Vesuvius  in  that  terrible  eruption,  when  at 
the  gates  of  Pompeii  he  staid  within  his  sentry-box  until 
he  fell  upon  the  spot  whereon  his  captain  placed  him, 
Zachary  Taylor,  too,  determined  that  a  death  with  honor 
was  far  better  than  ignoble  yielding,  and  hence  he  staid 
upon  the  spot  whereon  his  country  placed  him.  Ampudia 
wavered  in  the  face  of  his  determined  answer.  Then 
they  changed  commanders.  Arista  came  to  cut  off  com¬ 
munication  between  Taylor  and  his  stores.  The  Mexicans 
crossed  the  Rio  Grande  above  Taylor’s  encampment,  and 
this  violation  of  the  boundary  line,  this  invasion  was  in 
itself  sufficient  cause  for  war.  They  captured  some  of 
Captain  Thornton’s  dragoons  and  killed  sixteen  of  his 


II 


men.  That,  too,  was  another  hostile  act  which  justified 
the  war.  From  that  time  the  patriots  pushed  the  fighting 
all  along  the  line.  It  was  victory  everywhere.  Palo  Alto’s 
prairies  saw  a  bloody  fight  upon  the  8th  of  May,  when  6co 
Mexicans  were  killed;  and  on  the  evening  of  the  9th, 
while  coming  through  a  deep  ravine,  they  met  again  Arista 
and  some  7,000  men,  but  when  Resaca  de  la  Palma’s 
smoke  had  cleared  away  another  1,000  Mexicans  were 
dead  upon  the  field.  Then  the  fort  across  from  Mata- 
moras  on  the  Rio  Grande  was  saved.  For  seven  days  the 
little  fort  had  nobly  stood  the  fire  until  the  army  to  its 
rescue  came.  While  thus  the  victors  onward  pushed  the 
news  spread  back  to  all  the  states.  Amid  the  great  ex¬ 
citement  of  the  times  the  Congress  voted  $10,000,000  to 
the  further  prosecution  of  the  war,  while  50,000  boys  and 
men  came  forward  as  the  nation’s  volunteers.  Then  on 
to  further  victories  they  pushed.  Taylor,  Wool  and  Worth 
gained  battle  after  battle  in  the  North.  Monterey,  Saltillo, 
Victoria,  Tampico,  Buena  Vista  and  a  score  of  other 
names  shall  ever  make  the  nation’s  great  triumphal  arch 
a  record  of  the  deeds  of  loyal  sons.  While  these  events 
were  passing  in  the  North  the  “Army  of  the  West”  was 
crossing  o’er  the  plains  from  Leavenworth  to  Sante  Fe. 
When  Kearney  and  Fremont  joined  forces  in  the  West, 
New  Mexico  and  California  fell  almost  without  a  blow. 
But  way  off  in  the  South,  as  if  the  tropic  heat  were  not  al¬ 
ready  too  intense,  the  heat  of  battle  raged  with  all  its 
vehemence.  The  march  of  Scott  from  Vera  Cruz  to 
Mexico  was  like  the  mowing  of  a  human  swath  with  the 
keen-edged  scythe  of  death.  The  castle  of  San  Juan 
D’Ulloa  gave  up  5,000  men.  At  Cerro  Gordo  Santa  Anna 
lost  a  third  his  men.  The  victors  took  Jalapa  and  the 
castle  of  Perote  next.  Puebla  fell  without  a  stroke,  and 
then  the  way  was  clear  to  strike  the  very  heart.  Around 
the  seat  of  government  the  scene  was  one  great  theater  of 
camps.  But  heights  and  forts  bowed  down  before  the 


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12 


mighty  onward  rush  of  conquering  hosts,  and  walls  went 
crumbling  into  dust  beneath  the  tread  of  conquering  giants’ 
feet.  As  rapidly  as  shifting  views  within  kaleidoscopes 
the  views  around  this  spot  were  changed.  Contreras  fell; 
and  San  Antonio  yielded  then.  The  heights  of  Cherubusco 
then  were  climbed.  El  Molinos  del  Rey  was  next  to 
yield,  and  then  the  hill  of  old  Chepultepec  alone  was  left 
to  guard  the  gates;  but  its  frowning  battlements  could  not 
resist  the  sweep,  and  on  its  shattered  ruins  was  placed  our 
nation’s  flag  as  in  triumphant  march  the  victors  entered 
Mexico.  This  ended  then  the  strife.  That  strife  in  which 
the  armies  of  the  Center  and  the  West  and  North  lent 
loyal  aid  unto  each  other’s  cause.  That  strife  in  which  a 
hundred  thousand  heroes  took  a  part.  That  strife  in  which 
this  remnant  took  a  part  and  faced  the  foe  upon  the  field 
of  death.  On  this  reunion  day  our  hearts  must  swell  in 
praise  as  we  recall  that  bravery  on  those  fields.  On  each 
recurring  year  our  hearts  will  swell  in  praise,  but  each  re¬ 
curring  year,  alas  !  leaves  fewer  hearts  to  swell.  On  each 
recurring  year  your  ranks  are  thinned  and  comrades  that 
you  met  the  year  before  have  closed  their  eye-lids  down  in 
sleep.  But,  while  these  years  thus  come  and  go,  let  me 
entreat  this  remnant  now  that  while  in  waiting  for  your 
turn  do  not  forget  your  bravery  on  the  field  in  Mexico,  and 
when  the  foe  of  death  shall  come,  with  resolution  firm  as 
six  and  forty  years  ago,  look  on  his  face  without  a  fear. 
The  soldier  hero  in  his  youth  will  never  falter  in  his  age, 
nor  waver  at  the  end.  And  at  the  call  of  that  eternal  roll 
a  hundred  thousand  joyful  voices  will  respond. 


